Literary Forgery | 1493 (1892), My Secrete Log Boke, The Lost Diary of Christopher Columbus.

This remarkable diary, adorned with shells and sand, is one of the most peculiar items in the Bayliss Rare Books trove. Passed down through time, it is believed to be the long-lost diary of Christopher Columbus, tossed out to sea during a storm many years ago, only to be found by the coast of Pembrokeshire centuries later.....

Worthy of note is that it is actually a renowned literary forgery! Written in an old-fashioned English and with paper and binding crafted to look as if it had been weathered by the sea., it is a rare work with only a handful known to exist.

First and only edition. Printed by lithographic process on imitation parchment paper. Text and illustrations printed to appear hand written, with many decorated initials. Small quarto, 47pp., plus loosely-inserted reproduction letter with remnants of wax seal.

Published by Frz. Rangette & Sons, Dusseldorf, 1892.